ATSC 201 - Meteorology of Storms - Fall 2005

Quizzes

Quizzes cover only the readings in textbook Rauber, Walsh and Charlevoix, 2005: Severe and Hazardous Weather, 2nd Ed. Kendall/Hunt Publ Co.

QUIZ 1 - Intro., Atmos. Structure, Tornadoes, Vorticity, Hodographs, Radar.

  1. Name 2 types of non-supercell tornado: ___ , ___
  2. The type of vorticity that includes the effects of the earth's rotation is ___ vorticity.
  3. Tilting of vorticity is responsible for [pick one: (a) origin of tornadic rotation , (b) strengthening of tornadic rotation , or (c) dissipation of tornadic rotation] .
  4. On a hodograph, the concentric rings represent different ______ .
  5. Name two characteristics of weather radar returns that storm forecasters look for to indicate the presence of a tornado: _____ , ______ .
  6. The _____ acts as a lid to the earth's weather.
  7. Pressure (pick one: increases , is roughly constant , decreases ) with increasing height.

QUIZ 2 - Forces, Dynamics, Winds, Hail.

  1. For turbulent drag (frictional) force, list 2 mechanisms that lead to turbulence in the lower atmosphere. ______ , ______
  2. The geostrophic wind results from a balance between what 2 forces? ______ , ______
  3. a) When air spreads out from a point, it is called (pick one: convergence , divergence).
    b) This process tends to [pick one: add , remove, not affect] total mass in a column of air.
    c) The result is surface air pressure that [pick one: increases, decreases, doesn't change much].
  4. a) In cyclonically-curved flow (counterclockwise in the N. Hemisphere), the true wind speed will be [pick one: faster than , the same as , slower than] the geostrophic wind speed.
    b) This curved wind is called the ____ wind.
  5. What is in the bounded weak echo region (BWER) of thunderstorms that allows hail embryos to grow so large? ______
  6. Which measurement from polarization-diversity radar helps to distinguish hail from rain? [pick one: reflectivity , differential reflectivity , Doppler velocity , spectrum width , linear depolarization ratio , specific differential phase , co-polar correlation coefficient].

QUIZ 3 - Observations, Adiabats, Stability, Thunderstorms

  1. Isolated (unorganized) thunderstorms are called Air Mass thunderstorms. List three broad classes of organized thunderstorms, as discussed in our textbook.
    a) ___ b) ___ c) ___
  2. Severe thunderstorms require 4 elements (i.e., key ingredients) for formation. List them:
    a) ___ b) ___ c) ___ d) ___
  3. Balloon-borne instruments to measure upper-air weather are called (a) ___ , and are launched (b) ___ per day in North America.
  4. ACARS data is obtained by ____ .
  5. Air is said to be statically ___ if a displaced air parcel continues to accelerate in the direction it was displaced.

QUIZ 4 - Downbursts, Gust Fronts, Lightning, Thunder

  1. Name 2 methods for electrically charging thunderstorms. a)__ b)__
  2. Positive polarity lightning, which is the type most likely to trigger forest fires, connects between the ground and which part of the thunderstorm? ______
  3. Hurricanes generally produce (pick one: many , few ) lightning strikes.
  4. The thin layer of electrical charge along the outside surface of a thunderstorm is called the ____ layer.
  5. Name 2 environmental conditions that favor microburst development.
    a) ___ b) ____
  6. Give one type of equipment that is deployed at airports to help detect downbursts and their associated outflow. ______

QUIZ 5 - Global Circulation, Weather Maps

  1. Given the weather station data as might be plotted on a surface weather map, what is the air temperature? _____
    .
  2. A map showing a vertical slice through the atmosphere is called a __ .
  3. On average over mid latitudes, the heights on upper-air isobaric charts decrease towards the ( north , east , south , west , no decrease).
  4. Low-pressure areas (Lows) at the surface often form or strengthen at locations where the air flow is diverging aloft. List 3 processes that can cause such divergence aloft. ____ , ____ , ____
  5. What effect near the ground causes Lows to weaken and die? ___

QUIZ 6 - Fronts, Cyclones

  1. Draw the weather map symbols for
    a) Stationary front
    b) Warm front
    c) Occluded front
    d) Cold front
  2. For a cold front, what 2 conditions are needed in the warm air ahead of the front to create thunderstorms along the front?
    a) _________ b) _________
  3. The air behind an upper-level front usually comes from an altitude near the _____ .
  4. List two conditions that can create and strengthen a mid-latitude cyclone (i.e., a surface low pressure center).
    a) ______ b) ______
  5. A trough of warm air aloft is called a/an _________ .

QUIZ 7 - Forecasting and Hurricanes.

  1. List 2 of the 3 mechanisms that can cause convergence in low-altitude air, which can trigger clusters of thunderstorms in the tropics.  a) __  b) __
  2. List 3 of the 4 environmental conditions needed to allow thunderstorm clusters to evolve into hurricanes. a) ____  b) ____  c) ____
  3. Under what part of the hurricane are the strongest winds and greatest rainfall rates?  ______
  4. List 2 of the 3 limitations of synoptic-scale NWP models that can cause errors in the forecasts.    a) ___  b) ___
  5. Give 2 examples of physical processes that must be parameterized in a NWP model (as opposed to being forecast directly).   a) _____    b) _____

written by Roland Stull, 2005.
UBC
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